Fastener for doors.



G. V. HILL.

FASTENER FOR DOORS.

APPLIUAToN NLP-.D SEPT. um.

, rammed Jan. 5, 1915 ZBHEETS-"SHEET l.

C. V. HILL.

FASTBNBR FOR DOORS.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT, 25,1914.

Patented J an. 5, 1915.

@Levi/1400 7 CLEMENT V. HILL, OFTRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

FASTENER FOR DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lPaterrtedJan, 5, 191..

Application led September 25, 1914. Serial No. 863,518.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLEMENT V. HILL, a

citizen of the United States of America, re-

siding at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of-N ew Jersey, have invented certai-nnew and useful Improvements-in Fasteners for lDoors, of which the following is a specification.

F or the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown it mounted on a refrigerator door. j

The object of my invention is to provide a fastening mechanism which willhold the door tightly on its jamb with an'air tight joint,'said mechanism being so; constructed that it may be as readily operated from the inside-of the door as from the outside thereof,'the latch bolt being of a type that will automatically engage its keeper as soon as the door is closed, there being tension means to hold the bolt firmly in its locked position,

i but the mechanism for operating the bolt is such that the tension of the said means is overcome, with a minimum pull in the act ofV opening the door; and with these and other objects inview my invention consists of the parts and combination of parts, as Will be more fully hereinafter set forth.v

lln the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a door and its jamb with my improved fastener applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line I2---2 Fig. 1, showing the fastening mechanism in latched position. Fig. 3 is a similar viewshowing the parts with the bolt elevated to unlatched position as just in the act of leaving its keeper. Fig. 4 is a verticalsectional view through a door showing the fastening mechanism in elevation andv partly in section. F ig. 5 is a detail-view showing the ratchet tension for the spring. Fig.. 6 is a top plan view of Fig. 1, parts beingin section.

he reference numeral 1 designates a j amb, and 2 a door of suitable construction,

while 3 represents a packing carrier by the door or by the jamb.I The packing is sho-wn because l have elected to describe my invention in connection with a refrigerator, but, of course, it will be understood that my improved latch is not limited, in its application, to refrigerators.v

The keeper 4 is secured to the jamb by means of the screws or bolts 5, and is provided with a nose 6 having'a cam face 7 and a cam face 8, the latter cam face, when the which the working parts of the latch may be' mountedv thereby eliminating the liability of the parts being lost in transit and reducing to a minimum the number of screws or bolts necessary to secure the parts to a door.

` Arms 12 and 13 are formed integral with the base plate 11 and project forwardly therefrom when the plate is secured to a door. A revoluble shaft 14 is journaled in said arms 12 and 13 and is provided with a crank arm 15 on the end of which is mounted an antifriction rollervl which is adapted to enter the recess 9 in the keeper and. there` by securely latch the door in its closed position, as shown in the drawing. A coiled spring 17 is secured around the shaft 14, one end thereof being anchored at 18 to the arm 12 while the other end is anchored to a teuf sion ratchet wheel 19 which in turn is revolubly mounted on the shaft 14 and is held in adjusted position by means of a keyl 20 mounted on the arm 13.

Inasmuch as the pin 2O keys the ratchet to the arm 21, the ratchet revolves on the shaft 14, when the arm is moved, but it does not move relatively to the arm. l

'An arm 2l is keyed to the shaft 14 by means of which the shaft is revolved andl the latch bolt withdrawn from the keeper when the parts are operated inthe act' of opening and closing the door.l This arm is provided with a reduced lend 22 to which is pivotally secured a link 23, the forked end 24: thereof being adapted to receive said reduced end 22.

' The door is provided With a transverse opening 25 in which the rod or stem 26 is positioned, the opening being, relatively, of greater diameter than the rod or stem shown, the inner end of the rod or stem being provided with a knob 27. The inner end of the opening is closed by means of a cup plate 28 having an opening through which ,the rod passes, said plate being packed with a packing 29, preferably felt, which will prevent the ingress and egress of air around through the opening 25, which, in the case of refrigerators, is very essential. The forward or outer end of the rod is provided with an integral operating handle 30 and with a striking plate or lug 31 which is of such size that it Will close and seal the outer end of the opening 25, when the door is closed, thus providing another seal against the ingress or egress of air. Intermediate the striking plate 31 and handle 30 the rod 25 is enlarged as at 32 through which is formed a slot 33 in which is pivotally secured the reduced upper end 34 of the link 23, and the reduced lower' end 35 of the upper link `36, the upper end of the link 36 being forked, as at 37, and pivoted to the lug 38 which is integral with the base f plate 11.

When the door is closed the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2. Now assuming that it is desired to open the door the parts are operated, from the outside, by

grasping handle 30 and pulling it in the natural direction to swing the door open, when the parts will assume the position shown in Fig. 3 and by continued pull the door will swing to full open position. When the handle30 is pulled outward the outer end portion of the rod 26 is elevated, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, by reason of the fact that the upper end of the link 36 is anchored to the base plate 11 and swings in an arc from that point, and this upward movement results in pulling the link 23 bodily upward thereby, elevating the inner end of the arm 21 and thus revolving the shaft 14 against the tension of the spring 17, thus swinging the arm 15 and elevating the roller 16 above the nose 6 whereupon the door is free to be swung open.

In closing the door the roller 16 rides up the cam face 7 and drops into the recess 9 and by the coperation of the spring 17 and the cam face 8 the door is pulled against the jamb and forms therewith a tight joint.

In the use of refrigerators it is customary to close the door tightly so that it is necessary to provide some means for operating the latch from within the refrigerator therefore I extend the rod or stem 26 within the refrigerator and provide it with a lmob 27 so that the lock ma be operated by pushing the rod outward. prefer to use a knob on the inner end of the rod as it presents an enlarged surface against which the body may be conveniently pressed, in case the operator requires both hands to carry goods from the refrigerator.

It will be observed that in operating this fastener no unusual or unnatural movements are necessary; the natural movement of the arm in opening and closing the door being all that is necessary to operate the fastener.

By reason of the link movement herein described which gives a very powerful leverage, I am enabled to put the spring 17 under very heavy tension which results in a stronger pull of the latching roller 16 on the cam face 8 which in turn results in a tighter joint between the door and jamb.

What I claim is:

1. In a fastener for doors, the combination with a latch for holding the door closed and mounted upon a horizontally disposed axis parallel with the vertical plane of the door, an operating rod, extending through the door and having a limited vertical movement at its outer end, but ixed against vertical movement at inner end, and a vertically disposed operating device connected to the latch and the rod.

2. In a fastener for doors, the combination with a latch for holding the door closed and mounted to rotate upon an axis parallel to the vertical plane of the door, an operating rod constructed to pass through an opening in a door and extend beyond the front and rear face of the door, and a' pivoted connection between the outer end of said rod and the door and a swinging connection between the outer end of the rod and the said latch.

3. In a fastener for doors, the combination with a latch for holding the door closed and mounted to rotate upon an axis parallel with the vertical plane of the door, and an operating rod, a swinging connection between the said rod and door and a link connection between the said rod and said latch.

4. In a fastener for doors, the combination with a latch for holding the door closed and mounted upon an axis parallel to the vertical plane of the door, of an operating rod extending through a transverse opening in the door, said opening being of greater diameter than the rod, a handle on each end of the rod, a link pivotally connected to the door and to the outer end of the rod, a link pivotally connected to the said rod and to said latch, whereb a movement of the rod in the direction o its axis will rotate said latch upon its axis.

5. In a fastener for doors, the combination with a base plate, arms extendingout- Wardly from said plate, a shaft revolubly mamar llt;

journaled in said arms parallel with the vertical plane of the plate, a latch crank at one end extending in the direction of the plate and an operating crank arm at the other end of the shaft also extending in the direction of said plate, and a tension spring connected with said shaft, of an operating rod, a link pivotally connectedto said rod-and to the operating crank arm, and a link pivotally connected to said rod and said base plate.

In testimony whereof ll aiix my signature in presence of two witeses.

CLEMENT V. HILL. Witnesses:

RoBT. H. JOHNSTON, JOSEPH R. ASHMORE. 

